According to the Union of Concerned Scientists recent newsletter, the antibiotic resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) that has been an increasing problem in hospitals around the world is now infecting apparently healthy schoolkids outside of hospitals. This is a major development. Up until now anti-biotic resistance was only occasionally a problem outside of hospitals (so-called community-acquired" cases). This may be changing. According to the Centers for Disease Control, MRSA was responsible for almost 19,000 US deaths in 2005.

Another part of this development is also important. Evidence from Europe indicate that the community-acquired cases of MRSA are often associated with livestock operations. This is yet further evidence that the idiotic practice of pouring massive amounts of antibiotics into the feed of healthy animals is contributing to the public health risk of antibiotic resistant bacteria that treatens our children and people with a compromised immune system.

About 70 percent of all antibiotics used in the United States are routinely added to feed of healthy livestock and poultry. Bacteria that are constantly exposed to antibiotics develop antibiotic resistance. This is simple evolution. Bacteria that develop antibiotic resistance outcompete those that don't and become the more common strain over time. Normally, the antibiotic resistant strains grow slightly slower so remain a tiny part of the bacterial population. Livestock and poultry operations, by constantly exposing bacteria to a selective pressure favoring the antibiotic resistant strains, create a situation where the antibiotic resistant strains become more common. Then when humans get sick from resistant bacteria, the antibiotics prescribed by doctors don’t work anymore. This is all really basic genetics and evolution. Yet despite these basics and the increasing evidence of a health risk to our children, too many large scale livestock and poultry operations insist on using massive amounts of antibiotics on healthy animals.

Some companies are better. For example, the restaurant Chipotle (a pseudo-Mexican food chain) offers all meats raised without antibiotics and many of its meats are free range. And some major poultry companies have phased out the use of antibiotics on healthy animals. But it remains a widespread practice.

You can read a LOT more about this issue at the Union of Concerned Scientists website.

What you can do:

The most important thing you can do is to only buy meat and chicken that specifically says "raised without antibiotics" on the label. This is perhaps the most important food choice you can make when buying meat.

You can also urge Congress to take action by passing the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act. You can learn more about this and write your representative through this site. Sadly, my own Rep. Yvette Clarke is not a sponsor of this bill yet. Nor are Anthony Weiner, Nydia Velazquez, Edolphus Towns, Charles Rangel, Jerrold Nadler, John Hall or Kirsten Gillibrand (just to name the ones that catch my eye on the long list). Neither is either of my Senators, Clinton or Schumer...nor have EITHER McCain or Obama. We really need to contact our politicians and put pressure on them to protect our health and the health of our kids. I can tell you right now that research into new antibiotics is NOT keeping pace with the rise of antibiotic resistant strains.